"Expecting New Growth Engines"‥ Full-Scale Formation of 'Border Area·DMZ Special Union' Begins

Basic Plan and Legal/Institutional Revisions Establishment Service by September... Completion of Formation by January Next Year

Border Area Mayors and County Governors Council, Full-Scale Formation of 'Border Area and DMZ Special Union' [Yeoncheon County]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Basic local governments in border areas such as Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province, are actively moving forward with the formation of the 'Border Area·DMZ Special Union (Special Autonomous Body)' to revitalize the underdeveloped regional economy and create new growth engines for the border area.

The Border Area Mayors and County Governors Council announced on the 18th that it had signed a contract with the Korean Local Autonomy Association for the "Basic Plan and Legal and Institutional Improvement Service for the Formation of the Border Area·DMZ Special Union."

The council completed preliminary consultations on the service last December and, after gathering opinions from 10 cities and counties on the spatial scope (land and sea) called the DMZ, finalized the special autonomous body's name as the 'Border Area·DMZ Special Union.'

They plan to carry out the basic plan and legal and institutional improvement service for the formation of the 'Border Area·DMZ Special Union' by September.

Through this, they aim to establish the special autonomous body by January next year after local councils of each local government approve the drafting of the organization's regulations, identification of joint administrative tasks, formation of a promotion team, and other overall practical matters, followed by approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The council expects that, given the central government's clear commitment to supporting the special autonomous body, the 'Border Area·DMZ Special Union' will become a new growth engine for local governments in the border area in the future.

A council official said, "Now that we have started the full-scale procedures for forming the special autonomous body, we will do our best to establish a stable cooperation and decision-making system and to identify feasible joint administrative tasks."

Meanwhile, at the Border Area Balanced Development Policy Expo held last December, Jeon Hae-cheol, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated regarding the launch of the special autonomous body, "The government will spare no support."